This invention pertains generally to digital data processing and to digital signal processing, and particularly to apparatus for sorting digital words at a high speed.
It is known in the art that the process of arranging digital numbers into an ordered sequence of ascending or descending values, i.e. sorting digital numbers, may be performed by controlling a digital processor by appropriate software. However, known sorting algorithms tend to be quite time consuming because the numbers to be sorted must first be stored in memory and then repeated comparisons and rearrangements of pairs of such stored numbers must be carried out in the arithmetic section of a processor to accomplish the desired sorting. Any such time expended in a sorting operation reduces computer throughput and increases processing cost. A reduction in computer throughput in turn makes it impractical in some real time signal processing applications.